NAS Colloquium "Plants and Population: is there time?"

Dear Colleague,
I write to invite you to participate in a colloquium entitled
?Plants and
Population: is there time?? sponsored by the National Academy of Sciences,
to be held on Saturday and Sunday, December 5 and 6 of 1998 at the Arnold
and Mabel Beckman Center in Irvine, California. The Colloquium coincides
with the 200th anniversary of Malthus? famous essay ?On Population.? It is
being co-organized by Nina V. Fedoroff, a plant geneticist and molecular
biologist, and Joel E. Cohen, a population biologist, to explore the
question posed by the title of the Symposium.
The organizers have been assisted by a group of eminent scholars. Drs.
Vernon Ruttan, Jeff Schell, Nathan Keyfitz, Peter Raven, Michael Clegg and
Harold Mooney. They have developed an interactive format that will engage
participants from disparate backgrounds in discussing each topic from a
variety of perspectives. Each session will have four speakers, as well as
a panel. The program?s organization and discussion topics are described
below.
I hope that you will be able to attend this two-day meeting. Attendance
at the colloquium is limited to 250 registered participants. Registration
of $175 covers the meeting, breakfast, lunch and breaks and transportation
to and from the Hyatt Regency Irvine. Graduate students may apply for
assistance (see registration form for details.)
Please forward this program to all interested faculty. For registration
information, please refer to our website: (www2.nas.edu/nas/2a96.html).
For distribution purposes a MS Word copy of the program has been attached.
Thank you in advance for your assistance. I hope you will be able to
attend.
Sincerely,
Edward Patte
Staff Officer for the Colloquia Series
(See attached file: Plants Program for Email.doc)
PROGRAM
NAS Colloquium ?Plants and Population: is there time??
Beckman Center of the National Academy of Sciences, Irvine
December 5-6, 1998
Session I: Demographic and economic projections of food demand and supply.
Saturday, Dec 5, 1998 9:30 ? 12:30 Session Chair: Joel Cohen,
The Rockefeller University
?World food & agriculture: the outlook for the medium & longer term.?
Nikos Alexandratos, UNFAO
?The growth of demand will limit output growth for food over the next
quarter century.?
D. Gale Johnson, Univ. of Chicago
?Global and local implications of biotechnology and climate change for
future food supplies.?
Robert Evenson, Yale University
?World food trends and prospects to 2020.? Tim Dyson, London School of
Economics
Panelists: Dennis Ahlburg, University of Minnesota; Kenneth Arrow, Stanford
University; Bernard Gilland, Espergaerde, Denmark; Vaclav Smil, University
of Manitoba
Session II: Limits on agriculture: land, water, energy and biological
resources.
Saturday, Dec 5, 1998 2:00 ? 5:00 Chair: Michael Clegg, UC,
Riverside
?Plant genetic resources: what can they contribute towards increased crop
productivity??
David Hoisington, Centro Internacional de Mejoramiento de Maiz y Trigo,
Int.
?Ecological approaches and the development of 'truly' integrated pest
management."
Matthew Thomas, Centre for Population Biology, Imperial College
?Ecological intensification of cereal production systems: the challenge of
increasing crop yield potential and precision agriculture.? Kenneth
Cassman, University of Nebraska
?The transition to agricultural sustainability.? Vernon Ruttan, University
of Minnesota
Panelists: Gretchen Daily, Stanford University; William Murdoch, University
of California, Santa Barbara; Billie Lee Turner, Clark University;
Catherine Woteki, US Dept. of Agriculture
After Dinner Speaker: Ismail Serageldin, World Bank, ?Plants and
Population: is there time??
Session III: Plant and other biotechnologies.
Sunday, Dec 6, 1998 9:00 ? 12:00 Chair: Nina Fedoroff, The
Pennsylvania State University
?Biotechnology: enhancing human nutrition in developing and developed
worlds.?
Ganesh Kishore, Monsanto
?Use of plant roots for environmental remediation and biochemical
manufacturing.?
Ilya Raskin, Rutgers University
?The post-industrialized agricultural biotechnology era: what's rate
limiting??
John Ryals, Paradigm Genetics, Inc.
?Transgenic plants for the tropics: some strategies to develop them and
reach the farmer.?
Luis Herrera-Estrella, Centro de Investigacion y Estudios Avanzados,
Irapuato, Mexico
Panelists: Donald Roberts, Boyce Thompson Institute; Ron Sederoff, North
Carolina State University; Roger Beachey; The Scripps Research Institute;
Dennis Avery, Hudson Institute; Richard Meagher, University of Georgia;
Brian Staskawicz, University of California, Berkeley.
Session IV: Biodiversity and multiple land use demands
Sunday, Dec 6, 1998 1:30 ? 4:30 Chair: Dr. Harold Mooney, Stanford
University
?From prehispanic to future conservation alternatives: lessons from
Mexico.?
Arturo Gomez-Pompa, University of California, Riverside
?Gardenification of tropical conserved wildlands: multitasking,
multicropping and multiple users.?
Daniel Janzen, University of Pennsylvania
?Plant biodiversity, land use, and the sustainability of essential
ecosystem services.?
David Tilman, University of Minnesota
?Food supply expansion and the sustainable global management of carbon and
nitrogen: interacting challenges.? Robert Socolow, Princeton University
Panelists: Paul Ehrlich, Stanford University; Wes Jackson, The Land
Institute; Thomas Lovejoy, Smithsonian Institution; Walter Reid, World
Resources Institute.
Concluding open discussion: 4:30-5:30 p.m.
*****Poster Session*****
In response to participant inquiries, we have added a poster session to the
colloquium. A 4' x 4' display space will be available for those interested,
but the display space is limited and we encourage you to notify us
immediately if you are interested in displaying a poster. Pins will be
available for mounting posters. If you are interested in displaying a
poster, please contact sej1 at psu.edu to reserve a space.